Rnz: It Takes A Village

Tips and tricks for keeping your cool with your children.

Clinical and health psychologist Dr Toni Lindsay says anxiety is a bit like chocolate: a little bit is ok, but too much can make you spin out.

Wellington speech and language therapist Christian Wright discusses the different spoken language stages preschoolers go through as they learn to talk.

Psychologist Jacqui Maguire discusses tips and advice for parents struggling to carry the mental load of parenting, family life and work.

How young is too young to watch Stranger Things (M with a content warning)? What do you tell a 16-year-old who wants to watch Euphoria (R18 so actually illegal for those 17 and under)? To make informed decisions about safe family viewing, parents should take into account not only ratings and content warnings but also their child's individual sensitivities, says Kate Whitaker from New Zealand's Classification Office.

When Rob and Zareen Cope's four children began wanting phones and screens, the pair decided to dive into the research. They travelled overseas talking with experts and made a documentary. Today, the Cope's company - Our Kids Online - educates parents about the dangers of handheld devices and the internet-age, and how best to mitigate them. They spoke to around 500 parents in Wellington last night.

Starting baby on solids can be a daunting prospect, no matter how many kids you have - since every child's food journey is different. Baby led weaning or spoon feeding? How to introduce potential allergens into their diet? How much is enough? Australian-based duo Julia Tellidis and Lauren Skora are a clinical nutritionist and baby nutrition consultant who have have teamed up to create what they've called 'Baby Food Bible'. In addition to extensive information about the whens and hows of introducing solids to a baby's diet, it's also chock-full of recipes designed to appeal to the fussiest little eaters.

How do you encourage children to start making their own decisions? And at what age should they be able to do this with confidence? First off, it's all about helping them build "decision-making scaffolding", education specialist Mark Osborne tells Nine to Noon.

Gratitude journals have been embraced by some adults in recent years - but what about children? An electrician turned writer, and an Auckland teacher have now created a wellbeing journal for tamariki - Piki te Ora. Hira Nathan trained as an electrician, it is still his day job, but has always had a passion for writing. He has already written a bilingual gratitude journal for adults- Whakawhetai. And now Hira has teamed with Pike te Ora co author, Jessie Eyre who is a teacher at Western Heights School in Henderson.

One in every three people between the ages of 18 and 34 still live at home with their parents, according to Stats NZ. How do you navigate sharing household costs with adult children who've either returned home or never left?

Melbourne-based provisional psychologist Darren Godwin says tween and teens athletes and their parents can benefit from the same sort of assistance pros get to deal with ups and downs.

As a cellphone ban comes into force this term for school kids, Nine to Noon looks at the issue of when to get a phone for your child. While many - if not most - of us had a phone-free childhood, the pressure for children to get their own phones is creeping lower and lower. Many parents will opt for Year 7 and 8 - the intermediate school years - as a time when a phone can help kids navigate a little independence with the peace of mind being able to contact them can bring. Joining Kathryn to talk about this is Ellie Gwilliam is a content editor and presenter for the Parenting Place.

Negative body image is a lifelong issue for many women which social media only serves to fuel. Yet the habits and self-talk of mothers can also have a profound effect on young girls becoming overly critical of their bodies. Psychologists Janet Boseovski and Ashleigh Gallagher offer advice on what to do and what not to do in their new book Beyond Body Positive: A Mother's Evidence-Based Guide for Helping Girls Build a Healthy Body Image.

We intuitively know music is powerful. Songs have the ability to shape the way that we feel about and interact with the world. Music therapists harness that power to help people overcome metal and physical challenges. It can be particularly useful for children who need a little extra push to meet their development goals. Sessions involve celebrating music in all its forms, singing songs and playing instruments. To celebrate World Music Therapy Week, which runs from the 10th to the 15th of April, Kathryn Ryan is joined by registered music therapist and clinical services manager at Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust Rachel Foxell.

Many parents will know the struggle of getting children off devices. But Rachel Clare has some great ideas.

Speech and language therapist Christian Wright on some of the most effective evidence based-strategies to build preschoolers language across the day.

The social aspect of school can be a minefield for some kids. Parents and caregivers can help them navigate the fickle world of friendship by asking questions that aren't the "nervous" kind, says Life Education Trust educator Ingrid Kemp.

School refusal is a different kettle of fish than a child simply wanting to stay home for a day. It's a situation where they become so anxious or fearful - and it can be for a variety of reasons - that they refuse to go, repeatedly. While it's difficult to measure how many kids experience this, Dr Rosina McAlpine, founder of the Win Win Parenting program in Australia, says it could be up to five percent. Dr Rosina founded the parenting wellness workshop, which has been run across Australia and New Zealand, when through her work she realised many working parents were lacking support on how to balance their home life. Dr Rosina has completed a Masters of Higher Education and an education-focused PhD and joins Kathryn Ryan from Sydney to discuss school refusal.

It is a vexed issue for many parents, how to navigate the social media tightrope with their children and be aware of the dangers.

Boston-based psychologist Laurie Kramer has built a career out of helping children to get along. Her work focuses on the experiences of kids aged three to five - an age where many become siblings for the first time, and are also making friends at preschool and kindergarten. Her work began in the '90s, when as a fresh graduate she became interested in what childrens' interactions were actually like, when no adult was around. Kramer, a professor of applied psychology at Northeastern University, was one of the first to adopt the technique of videotaping preschoolers, to observe their relationship forming skills - and how they navigated arguments. She joins Kathryn Ryan to share some insights into the workings of little minds, when no one is there to watch. Laurie Kramer has developed a tool for parents, to help them navigate their children through conflict - you can find it here.